Lucent packs three Internet modem technologies on one chip set

SAN JOSE -- Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Microelectronics Group today unveiled a solution that can enable three different modem-based Internet services using only one chip set and one telephone line.

Using only one digital signal processor-based chip set and one circuit board, Lucent's WildWire solution provides personal computers and retail "stand-alone" modems with V.90 analog services at 56-kilobits-per-second, ADSL Lite services at 1.5 megabits per second, and ADSL "Full Rate"services up to 8 Mbits/sec. Powered by its new DSP1691 chip, Lucent's integrated solution eliminates the need for separate V.90 modem and DSL circuit boards, as well as a separate network interface card,

"Some of our modem chip customers want their equipment to be capable of delivering V.90, some DSL Lite, some DSL Full Rate, and some want all three," said Martin Rauchwerk, director of marketing for modem chips with Lucent's Microelectronics Group, speaking at the DSL Con show in San Jose. "With this one chip set, they can mix and match these capabilities as they choose without needing another chip set or circuit board. We like to call this the 'G.everything' chip set solution,
because it powers the vast array of high-speed Internet services and adheres to the multitude of analog and digital modem standards."

By integrating all three service-enabling technologies into a single chip set solution, Lucent's offering eliminates the need for multiple circuit boards in a PC and minimizes the number of phone line connections.

"It is often a mess and a hassle to have to plug in a bunch of different RJ11 jacks into the back of your computer to access analog and digital modem capabilities," added Rauchwerk. "With our solution announced today, PC users will only have to plug in one RJ11 jack to access a variety of analog and digital modem services."

Lucent's solution conforms to the International Telecommunications Union's G.Lite, G.dmt, and V.90 standards, as well as the American National Standards Institute's T1E1.413 Issue 2 protocol.

Ernie Raper, an analyst with VisionQuest 2000, called the Lucent chip "a differentiator" that provides "great flexibility to Lucent's customers as analog and digital modem deployment continues to mature."